Tracking heavy rain, thunder Saturday morning

Most severe weather missed us last night and this morning

Some heavy rain and thunder lingers around 8:00 AM

ROANOKE, Va. – This week’s large cold front brought Tornado Warnings to Mississippi and Alabama and Severe Thunderstorms to Tennessee and Kentucky. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued just west of us this morning, but our counties are staying below the severe threshold.

The Storm Prediction Center keeps most of our zones as well as portions of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York in a Marginal risk for severe weather through the morning. The southern edge of the same cold front is the reason for the risk in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.

The Storm Prediction Center keeps us in a level 1 risk Saturday morning

By 9:00 AM the heaviest rain that Southside and Lynchburg get is falling. Some lightning can flash as this comes through, but most of this system stayed free of lightning as it moved in.

Rain is still widespread by 9:00 AM, but the intensity is lower

Rain wraps up in the western zones at 10:00 AM with a few showers lingering until 11:00 AM in Lynchburg and Southside. Rainfall rates drop as the leading edge of the system moves on.

10:00 AM marks the end of heavy rain

By noon most of us are dry, and we mostly stay dry through the rest of the day. Isolated showers can pop up around 4:00 PM, but they don’t have the energy to turn into storms.

Clouds break up in the afternoon, and showers are few and far between

If you have any pictures or video of the rain coming down or clouds moving through we would love to share them. Go to our Pin It page for the easiest way to upload directly to us.

Rain totals are highest in the Highlands and NRV where the system was strongest as it initially reached those zones.

Despite some heavy rainfall rates overall totals are low

Send in your rain totals and check in with us this evening for rainfall reports from across our region.

The biggest change in weather this afternoon is the increase in wind speed. Once the cold front moves through there is little to stop winds from the west. Wind speeds climb to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph at their peak just before sunset.

Once the cold front moves through and rain ends our wind speeds rise quickly

It’s hard to add heat today thanks to morning cloud cover. The heat we gained Thursday and Friday sets us up nicely nonetheless. Highs reach the 70s with a few 80s.

Colder air comes in behind the front, but highs are still well above average until the middle of the week.

Temperatures aren't quite as warm as Friday, but since we gained so much heat earlier this week we stay above average

Sunday stays nice and dry; it’s definitely the more comfortable of the two days this weekend. Some isolated showers develop both Monday and Tuesday, but you can still get out of the house. Widespread rain holds off until late next week.

Showers are much more isolated early next week

The dry conditions next week let pollen counts climb high once again so be ready for some sniffles.

If you loved the heat during the work week the closest we get to those highs comes Friday.


About the Author:

Marshall Downing presents the weather Saturday and Sunday evenings at 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM, and you can see him during the week at 12:00 PM and 5:30 PM.